I-Scaff completes Philippines shutdown project

Fife-based I-Scaff has completed a contract to shut down a coal-fired power station in Mariveles in the province of Bataan, the Philippines.

The recommendation for I-Scaff came from the power station’s site manager who had director Ross Brown’s details following a previous shutdown project in Saudi Arabia.

Shutting down this power station in the Philippines came with its challenges, one being convincing the client that the works could be achieved with less manpower and in a faster time than a project of this nature would typically require.

Secondly, to ensure quality standards, I-Scaff sent its Middle East and Asia manager, Douglas Stuart, to China to audit three scaffolding manufacturing plants and source Turnlok scaffold system and scaffold tube and fittings that met the BS EN requirements.

The on-site team consisted of three British advanced scaffolder/supervisors and Mr Stuart, who has 25 years’ experience in the region. I-Scaff was keen to recruit Bataan locals and contracted 40 scaffolders from a large database of experienced nationals.

Including training time, I-Scaff completed the shutdown in nine weeks – six weeks faster than a previous year’s shutdown and with a team that was 60 per cent smaller – and with zero incidents or accidents.

John Pritchard, former maintenance manager at the power station, said:

“We were immediately impressed by I-Scaff’s professional approach along with the equipment they used. We witnessed first-hand how well they trained the local staff ahead of commencing the works.”